A Couple Beach Finds.
These aren't the biggest or fanciest looking rings in the world, but they hold good diamonds.
The one on the right has a very small band. Not a lot of gold there. But the diamond is a good one.
When I first started detecting, it seemed to me that women didn't lose as many rings as men. I was finding a lot more men's rings. I later learned that I was missing the smaller rings, and that was why I was finding more men's rings. As my detecting improved I found more small rings, and more good diamonds.
One thing that is better than a gold ring is a diamond ring, but remember, it is only the gold that you will be detecting.
Not too long ago I talked about the markings that you might find on gold rings. Today I'll talk about some things you'll want to know about diamond rings.
First, they are measured in carats. The weight of a carat is 200 milligrams.
The abbreviation "ct" is a shortened way to write carat, and refers to the weight of a single diamond. The abbreviation "ct TW" means carat total weight, and is used to express the total weight of multiple diamonds used in a piece of jewelry.
Carat weight is used as a measure for other gemstones as well as diamonds.
The weight of smaller diamonds is often expressed as points, not carats. There are 100 points in a carat.
On good jewelry you'll often find the weight of any gemstones inscribed inside the band along with the karat of the gold.
Quality diamonds are now often marked by a laser on the diamond itself. You can not see the laser marking unless you use 10X magnification.
Diamonds are often laser marked with a certificate number or a brief message such as "Marry me."
It is a good idea to get a jewelers loop with at least ten power magnification.
Not all rings or diamonds will be clearly marked, especially vintage or older items.
Using a jewelers loop, you can often tell the difference between a zircon and a real diamond. I think it takes a little training or experience though.
Zircons will often appear too perfect at first glance. It is harder to tell the difference between a zircon and a high quality diamond than between a zircon and a lower quality diamond.
When viewed with a loop, lower quality diamonds will show inclusions - little black spots.
Higher quality diamonds will be flawless, or nearly so.
A diamonds value will be heavily determined by the quality of the diamond, much like a coin's value is determined by it's condition.
If you lower your discrimination, you have a better chance of finding small ladies bands with good diamonds.
I recommend getting a jewelers loop. You'll find it useful for inspecting coins and jewelry.
Another little tip - a broken gold band might only give a little whisper or a signal.
And platinum rings will often give a nice soft but steady signal.
When targeting small gold or platinum rings with good stones, I'd recommend a something like a seven or eight inch coil at most.
Beach conditions pretty much unchanged. There are a few cuts around, but they are scattered and minimal.
The seas continue to hit from the east and not much is happening.
After today, the seas will start to decrease a little. That will be a goo time to check a little further ut during low tide.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
